"Melissa made an interpretation of one of our traditions and she made it from the heart. But, my favorite is Melissa's dessert because it respected the traditions of Italy," Dario said while getting choked up in front of the judges in Italian after tasting the finale meal. In fact, Melissa merged the two cultures so beautifully, it moved one of the diners, eighth-generation Italian butcher Dario Cecchini, who we memorably met in Season 16 of Top Chef, to tears. "There’s so much overlap and influence amongst each other, it only made sense for me to draw within my own culture for inspiration while there." "You have pasta, which is essentially noodles, and then you have risotto, which is congee," she explained. And so, I really tried to hone in on that side of my cooking style and do that throughout the finale."īut in doing research for her menu prior to traveling to Italy, Melissa realized there are many similarities between Chinese and Italian cuisine. "But I do feel my strength of being able to do that, being able to bridge these cultures together and highlight it in a very tasteful way where it still stays true to what it is but makes it just a little more interesting. So I think there’s always gonna be that challenge of maintaining authenticity and not hybrid-ing things so much to where you can’t recognize it anymore," Melissa said of her finale meal. "I think it’s always a risk to fuse any culture together, whether it’s Chinese and Italian or Mexican and French, or something like that. "The finale’s sort of that one moment where there’s no restrictions and you can, really, create your style of food and not get caught up in the game and the challenges."Īs she did throughout the finale in Italy, Melissa decided to combine Asian flavors with Italian cuisine for the finale challenge, serving a char siu glazed octopus, fried shallots, fennel, pickled peppers, and herbs (first course) squash agnolotti, chicken skin, agrodolce cipollinis, Sichuan chili oil, shiso, and squash blossoms (second course) grilled squab with persimmon, porcini, and fermented black bean sauce (third course) and a Hong Kong milk tea tiramisu (fourth course). "I know when I was in Boston for Season 12, I didn’t have an opportunity to showcase my finale menu, and that was something that was really driving me to get to that last episode," she said. Going into that final elimination challenge, Melissa said she just "felt very excited" to be able to present her finale menu. Being an all-star cast, you have iconic, legendary names like the Voltaggios, and it was intimidating going into that and not knowing where I would place amongst this group of just amazing, talented chefs." "But whether or not I would win, I think that’s tough, because everyone was so good this year. "I certainly had confidence going into the game, and I think that carried through the challenges," Melissa said. She would go on to win two more Quickfires and six elimination challenges throughout the season, giving her the most wins out of any contestant in the history of Top Chef. Melissa started racking up wins from the very beginning of the competition, winning the very first Quickfire challenge as part of a team that also included Bryan, Jamie Lynch, Joe Sasto, and Kevin Gillespie. It’s pretty amazing and incredible what you can do when you push yourself." "To even say yes to doing it again, I’m just proud of myself for doing that, and then to go as far as winning, I’m on the moon. The first time around was so challenging and so difficult in so many ways, emotionally, physically," Melissa told The Daily Dish over the phone prior to the finale episode airing. After placing fourth in Season 12 of Top Chef, Melissa was crowned the Top Chef of Season 17 All Stars L.A. However, it was Melissa who finally got to taste redemption. The cheftestants did just that in one of the most emotional nail-biters of a finale we've ever seen in the history of Top Chef. So the pressure was definitely on when the final three contestants, Stephanie Cmar, Melissa King, and Bryan Voltaggio, were tasked with cooking "the best progressive four-course meal of your life," as host Padma Lakshmi described the final elimination challenge of the season. But after all the intense Quickfires, inspiring elimination challenges, and a star-studded lineup of guest judges, only three cheftestants remained hoping to take home the top title in the Season 17 finale on Thursday, June 18. This article contains spoilers about Bravo's Top Chef Season 17 finale.īravo's Top Chef Season 17 kicked off with 15 finalists, frontrunners, and fan favorites vying for culinary supremacy.
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